Tina Turner’s Family Guide: From Sons With Ex Ike to Finding Love With Erwin

A loving mother. Tina Turner had four sons as she navigated life in the spotlight.

The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll became a mother at the age of 18 in 1958 with the birth of her son Craig, whom she welcomed with Ike Turner’s former Kings of Rhythm bandmate Raymond Hill. Tina and Ike, who would later wed, scored their first hit song with 1960’s “A Fool in Love.”

Upon their nuptials in Tijuana, Mexico in 1962, the “Proud Mary” singer became the stepmother of Ike’s two sons, Ike Jr. and Michael, whom he welcomed with ex-wife Lorraine Taylor in 1958 and 1959, respectively. She subsequently adopted Ike Jr. and Michael.

Tina and the record producer welcomed a child of their own, son Ronnie, in 1960.

While she and Ike continued to find career success with songs such as “I Idolize You,” “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” and “Poor Fool,” their marriage was not so pretty behind the scenes. Ike became abusive toward the eight-time Grammy winner while struggling with addiction. In her 1986 memoir, I, Tina, the singer revealed that she attempted suicide in 1968 due to the abuse.

Their tumultuous marriage came to an end in 1976 when Tina filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as the ground of their split. Ike later died of a cocaine overdose in December 2007.

Over the years, Tina racked up a total of 25 Grammy nominations, in addition to taking home numerous Billboard music awards, earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and being twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

She also found new love with Erwin Bach, whom she married in July 2013 after 27 years of dating. “It’s that happiness that people talk about, when you wish for nothing, when you can finally take a deep breath and say, ‘Everything is good,’” she told Hello! magazine later that month of her new married life. “It’s a wonderful place to be.”

One year after she and the music producer tied the knot, Tina’s son Craig died by suicide in July 2018. He was pronounced dead in his California home by authorities following a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The “What’s Love Got to Do With It” singer called spreading her eldest’s ashes her “saddest moment as a mother” in a tweet at the time, sharing a picture of herself throwing a flower into the ocean in honor of her late son. “He will always be my baby.”

A few years later, Tina suffered another loss with the death of her and Ike’s youngest, Ronnie. She announced his death at the age of 62 via an emotional Instagram post, writing, “Ronnie, you left the world far too early. In sorrow I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son.” He is survived by his wife, French musician Afida Turner.

Scroll below to get to know Tina’s family:

Tina first met Ike in 1956 at a performance for his band, the Kings of Rhythm. Two years after she and Hill welcomed their son, Craig, she and Ike got their first big hit with the song “A Fool in Love.” That same year, Tina gave birth to the then-couple’s only child together, Ronnie.

The pair tied the knot in 1962 after which “The Best” singer became the stepmother of Ike’s sons with ex-wife Taylor, Ike. Jr. and Michael.

After suffering years of abuse from Ike, Tina broke things off in 1976. Their divorce was finalized in 1978 after 16 years of marriage, and their relationship went on to inspire the 1993 biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne.

Ike — who was also previously married to Bonnie Mae Wilson — went on to wed twice more, exchanging vows with Jeanette Bazzell Turner in 1995 and Audrey Madison Turner in 2006. He died at the age of 76 in 2007 following a cocaine overdose.

Tina moved on from Ike with German music producer Bach in 1986 and the two wed after 27 years together in July 2013.

“Erwin, who is a force of nature in his own right, has never been the least bit intimidated by my career, my talents, or my fame,” she wrote of her husband in her 2020 book, Happiness Becomes You: A Guide to Changing Your Life for Good. “He shows me that true love doesn’t require the dimming of my light so that he can shine. On the contrary, we are the light of each other’s lives, and we want to shine as bright as we can, together.”

She went on to note that she felt an “emotional connection” with Bach upon meeting him at an airport in Germany. “I could have listened to the ghost voices in my head telling me that I didn’t look good that day, or that I shouldn’t be thinking about romance because it never ends well. Instead, I listened to my heart,” Tina wrote. “I left my comfort zone and made it a priority to get to know Erwin. That simple first meeting led to a long, beautiful relationship — and my one true marriage.”

Ike and Taylor welcomed their eldest son, Ike Jr., in 1958. The musician — who scored a 2007 Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album with his father — praised Tina in an August 2018 interview with the Mail on Sunday, calling her “the only mother I’ve ever known.”

While he briefly worked with the “Nutbush City Limits” singer following her and Ike’s divorce, Ike Jr. and Tina seemingly lost touch over the years. “I haven’t talked to my mother since God knows when — probably around 2000,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “I don’t think any of my brothers have talked to her in a long time either.”

Ike Jr. has continued his passion for music as a member of the band The Love Thang.

Taylor gave birth to her and Ike’s second child, son Michael, in 1959. Over the years, the couple’s youngest — whom Tina adopted upon her marriage to Ike — has remained relatively out of the spotlight.

Ike Jr. shared an update on his younger brother in an August 2018 interview with the Mail on Sunday. “Michael is in a convalescent home in Southern California and needs medical support,” he shared. “I’ve been to see him quite a few times. He’s doing great.”

As for whether Tina ever visits her stepson, Ike Jr. alleged, “No. All she does is send him money.”

Tina and her ex Hill welcomed their son, Craig, in 1958. He went on to work as a realtor in Studio City, California, before taking his own life in July 2018. He was found dead in his home by authorities after self-inflicting a gunshot wound.

“I still don’t know what took him to the edge because at that stage he had said to me that he had never met a woman that he felt that way about,” Tina told BBC News in October 2018. “He was bringing her to meet me [for] his birthday in August. He had decorated his apartment that I bought him years ago. He had gotten a new job with a prominent real estate company in California, [which] he was very happy with.”

She went on to suspect that her son struggled with “loneliness,” despite his apparent new relationship. “He was an introverted person. He was very shy, so I didn’t know either, except now when I listen back to our last conversations, I notice a change,” Tina said at the time. “The last few times we talked, the conversations were different, and I didn’t know that until after the suicide.”

Born in 1960, Ronnie was Tina and Ike’s only biological son together. Though he stayed out of the spotlight like many of his siblings, Tina told Rolling Stone in 1986 that her youngest had gotten himself caught up in some legal trouble.

“California wasn’t good for him; he was very influenced by drugs and didn’t want to go back there because of that reason,” she told the outlet. “I cut him off financially, but I always had a string to find out what was going on and to get money there to help him if he needed it. Finally, he’s on his own two feet.”

Ronnie went on to marry French singer Afida Turner (born Hafidda Messaï) in 2007, and the two remained together until his death in December 2022. “Ronnie, you left the world far too early,” Tina wrote via Instagram at the time. “In sorrow I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son.”

It was later reported that his cause of death was complications from colon cancer.